The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-10-07
TERRORS OF FETCH.
suPERsTITloNs OF THE NATIVES or
THE CONGO COUNTRY.
Ceremony Performed by the Man VINO
"Makes Fetch when Its Po"eF1"A
Aid Is InvOked-The Growing
Act, or Seal.
rRoston Herald

Like all aboriginal people, the OOIgot
blacks ere very superstlt1ous. DuI 10 "naU
evtent thew believe in future state can
o,iT1 he coniectured They believe In the
existence of good and bad spirits, Wnicn
they believe are all the time noVerLnS
around, and when one or them oles tley
believe that his spirit or soul Is sel.ou
mon nv either the good or the bad spirits
upJI ooTr;ed awav to become one of them
Hence when native is dying his frlends
come around. fire off guns, ana make
horrible noises, for the purposes Cr lLIs ~.
ening off the evil spirits w hat eHecI thIs
NAV have on the good Spirits 10 nO'
stated
Tboir RELIGIOUS ceremonies are not OF q
,ronitiatory nature or for the purpose OF
warding off danger, disease, etc anu uolo
the fetch plays an important part. AnSy !
do not make human sacrlhces IKE Che
Asbantes, but when they want any AaVoAS
from the invisibles they bring goat OF I
chicken to the fetch man to be sacrlnceu, /
and are given in return an amuIeG OF
charm or fetch, as they call 1t Inc
fetch is the terrible, the unknown power
at once the prosecutor or the aVenger, ac
cording as its power IS lnH4neu
directed This the present lnIornan'
illustrated by an anecdote
THE FACTORS STRATEGY.
Tho Dutch have a factory at Banana
roint. which is approached by two ROADS,
one on each shore side OF the narrow pen
Ursula On the boundary line or tneH
property, on each road watch mouse was
established, to regulate abundance laOm
the outside But the laborers servants
and sailors from outside came IN IN sucn
numbers and gave SO much trouble Dy
getting drunk and creating disturbances,
that the agents finally thought II pest 10
make fetch, as 1t IS termea, On fa+ in0
man to make fetch. This consisted
first in bringing his fetch or idol on to the
line making figures in the sand around IT.
and flourishes or signs around anu aooVo
it with his hands aud arms and then
taking a chicken, cutting its head OH ana
sprinkIing the blood around Ihls ce[e-
mony was performed on each road IN
ahoHt twenty-four hours time the news
of what had been done spread Tar ana
wide. and so effectually did it frlghten
the natives that they ceased TO go 10 INC
Dutch factory town thereafter unless tISy
If thew passed that Ii aud made any
trouble. they would b, sub. ect to the pen
alties of the fetch, whatever they might
be. aud they were no doubt all the more
terrible because their precise nature was
not known
One of the chief uses of fetch by the
factors on the Congo is to recover stolen
articles of any value, for unless the loss
he considerable it often costs more to re-
cover it by this means than 1t IS worm
though the thief has invariably to pay the
cost of prosecution II he can De nelu 10
do II. When an article has been stolen
and the aid of the fetch is invoked, all
the men upon whom suspicion falls are
called out into an open place and MADE
to stand in a semi circle facing the tetlcn
man The fetich-Which is kind OF
idol made of wood, representing in rude
carving a man or beast, usually with two
heads-is first placed on cloth on the
ground. the fetch man handling 1t with
the same care and treating it with the
same consideration as if it were living
sentient being. as undoubtedly the ma
tiyes generally also regard it. be ther
delivers a kind of harangue to the meT
in front of him, telling what has beer
stolen. and calls upon the thief to own VI
and make restitution before he invoke
the power and wrath of the fetch
sa EXTREME MEASURES.
In the majority of cases, this exhorta
ton is effective, but if not, he gets dow
upon his knees and talks and mumb ies .
his idol, making it presents OF say a Dottl
of gin, a piece or more OF cloth, DraS
wire a looking glass, printed cotton hand
kerchiefs, etc etc., if it will only pom
out the thief-the things thus promise
the loser for the recovery OF the stole
goods Having done this the fetch ma
again calls upon the culprit to own VI
and if this appeal does not have the d'
sired effect the fetch man proceeds
gradually work himself up into state {
excitement similar to that affected by I'll
Mohammedan dervishes in their religion
frenzies in the course of which he cal
down all manner of dire calamitles an
evil happenings upon not only the actu
culprit, but his wife, children, parent
relatives, and even his whole tribe, i
Guiding his chief, the same penalties belL
invoked also in behalf of any one or mo
of the persons who know of the theft al
will not reveal it
During the continuance Of this meant
ton, the fetch man watches the count
nences of the men before him. and
quick to note those that may snow g4l
or guilty knowledge of the act. 1t
rare that the fetch is continued beyo
this point but if. as occasionally hs
pens. the culprit is still obdurate, I
last act of fetch is begun, being the MT
serlo comic of all The fetch man, III
ing his idol will not do his bidding, M
begins to upbraid and abuse it, and
. carry out his harsh treatment to the Ell
begins to drive into its body an Gig
penny nail The nail is driven in slow
the fetch man, before every stroke. c;
ing upon the culprit to repent ara c.
fess his sin before it is too late. The q
is driven in about one third OF us leng
and there it must stay to goad the l
on TO the terrible vengeance lnvol
against the sinner, the browning act,
seal to this ceremony, being mace
smearing the head of the nail with
blood Of fowl, an OK or goat, accc
ing to the nature of the misdemeanor
be punished Once the seal of the oil
Is set there is no forgiveness-the p
ishment is relentless and to the bitter e
The small n lmber of nails that are dri
in idols attest how seldom this last
has to be done.
An Artists Skill.
Exchanged